


Oven cleaning and biscuits

by outoftheashesrising



Category: Queens of Mystery
Genre: Family, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 04:36:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19143691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outoftheashesrising/pseuds/outoftheashesrising
Summary: “The last time I saw you like this you’d just been dumped at the alter”A snapshot of pre-series Matilda and her three fabulous aunts





	Oven cleaning and biscuits

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t think they specifically state the birth order of the Stone siblings in the series, so I went based on the ages of the actresses, so Jane is the oldest and Cat is the youngest.

_Matilda was 5 years, 3 months and 4 days old when she first discovered that adults could be, for all intents and purposes, peculiar. A budding detective even at her tender age, Matilda’s observational skills could rival most junior officers, a fact that was often  mentioned and celebrated by her three aunts. Except, to Matilda’s confusion, for today._

 

“Don’t pay them any attention, Mattie, they don’t know what they’re talking about” Aunt Cat stated briskly as she attempted to usher the youngest Stone out of the busy church.

 

“Nothing to see here.” Mattie didn’t know if she was talking  to her, or to the dozens of finely dressed people inhabiting the pews, whispering and pointing amongst themselves.

 

“I can help! Maybe someone knows where uncle Peter went!”

 

Cat looked at Matilda with sad eyes, crouching down to her level. “Not right now, kid. Why don’t you and Annie go play outside, I’ll be out in a bit.”

 

At this point Matilda was utterly confused. Her soon to be uncle had failed to show up to his own wedding, and so far no one had made any attempts at contacting the authorities, or even canvassing the witnesses. _Not any way to handle a potential crime scene,_ Matilda thought to herself as she begrudgingly allowed herself  to be led outside by her cousin. _Adults are peculiar._

 

————

 

“We better come up with a plan soon, those assholes are making a scene and I think Matilda is ready to start interrogating witnesses” Cat sat beside Beth, squeezing her arm. “How is she?”

 

“Putting on a brave face. But of course she’s devastated.” The older woman replied.

 

“The bastard. The utter bastard.” Cat stood up suddenly. “Who does he think he is, treating Jane like that? And he’s bloody stupid if he thinks that he’s going to find someone half as wonderful as her”

Cat knew that she should lower her voice, but she was too angry to care at the moment. _That idiot_ had hurt Jane, and he didn’t even have thr balls to face her. “Sending his bloody friend to do his dirty work. He better hope to God that I don’t find him-“ Beth was spared from whatever cruel and unusual punishment Cat would promise to enact on the runaway fiancé by the creak of the bathroom door.

 

“I’m fine, really. It’s not a big deal, I’m just going to go home” Jane Stone stepped out of the bathroom, having changed out of her practical yet deceptively  expensive white dress.

 

“Not a big deal!?” Beth placed a hand on Cat’s shoulder, warning her that this was neither the time or the place. Jane definitely had to come to terms with the events that had occurred not 15 minutes ago, but not right now. Not today.

 

“I’ll drive you home” Beth stated softly as she gently touched her older sister’s shoulder.

 

“I’ll deal with the guests, if Matilda hasn’t fingerprinted them already” Cat whispered to Beth as she went in the opposite direction of her sisters.

 

————-

 

“But I can help find uncle Peter” a tired yet determined Matilda cried from the back seat.

 

“We don’t want to find uncle Peter. Let him stay in whatever hole he’s hiding in” Cat growled, not taking her eyes off the road.

 

“Uncle Peter’s in a hole?”

 

Cat laughed to herself. “If I have anything to say about it he will be soon, kid.” Cat caught herself before she could say anything else that her niece would no doubt repeat to her older sisters.

 

“Let’s drop the whole uncle Peter issue, shall we? We don’t need to worry about him. We need to worry about aunt Jane, okay? She’s sad, so it’s our job to cheer her up.” If Cat had learned one thing from her 12 years and counting of being a mother, it’s that if you give a child a mission, said child will likely focus on said mission instead of continuing to ask unknowingly awkward questions.

 

“Aunt Jane needs to be cheered up?” Matilda asked in the most concerned tone a 5 year old could muster.

 

 _Works like a charm._ “Ya kid, do you think you could do something to make her feel better?”

 

“Biscuits?” Matilda could think of exactly 27 incidences where she could objectively describe herself as “sad.” Biscuits resolved said sadness in exactly 21 of those incidences. _Yes,_ Matilda thought to herself, _biscuits will work._

 

————

 

“Did she talk about it with you at all?” Cat whispered as she made her way into the small bookshop, Matilda in tow.

 

“No, she’s choosing to deal with this in her own special way” Beth said, a look of disapproval evident on her face.

 

Beth lead Cat and Matilda to the small apartment behind the shop, where Jane was currently on her knees, vigorously scrubbing at the oven.

 

“See?”

 

“ _Jesus Christ.”_

 

 _“_ I brought biscuits!”

 

It was only when Matilda spoke that Jane looked up from the task at hand, her hardened expression slowly fading.

 

“Thank you, Mattie, biscuits always make me feel better.”

 

Matilda beamed with the unique confidence of a 5 year old who had just been proven right.

 

She knew that just one biscuit was likely not enough to cure Jane from whatever was making her sad, adults were far more peculiar and less straight forward than 5 year olds, but she had a whole plate of biscuits and all the love in the world for her aunt. And that was enough for now.

  



End file.
